Commercial pressure exchangers of the above-mentioned category are known to exhibit operational flow limitations due to excessive noise, flow resistance, intermixing and cavitation despite the application of above mentioned patents. Furthermore, the manufacturing of certain parts requires extreme and costly tolerances and limited choice of materials due to asymmetric elastic deformations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,942 to Hauge, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes a principle for self-rotation by fluid streams that is based on the so called lift and drag principle, where the rotor duct walls act as hydrofoils. The trailing section of the rotor duct exposed to the exit flow of the low-pressure fluid is under cavitation risk at high flow velocities and therefore a limiting factor for unit flow capacity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,993 to Hauge, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes a positioning system of a rotor that requires extremely tight tolerances for the mating of the rotor and the outer bearing sleeve, which makes manufacturing costly. Furthermore, the hydrostatic bearing principle requires high degree of filtration as fluid is bled from the fluid stream under high pressure and passed through the radial rotor/sleeve clearances in a dead-end mode. This may cause silting and blockage of rotor under certain circumstances and applications. The outer sleeve also prevents rotor OD from being sized according to end cover OD or pressure vessel ID, and therefore limits efficiency and capacity further.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,487 to Polizos et al. describes a pressure transfer mechanism that seeks to avoid the sudden depressurization of the high-pressure fluid and destructive cavitation and noise. However, in reality it is only partially successful as cavitation damage is moved to the connecting channel and away from the exit edge of the end cover port.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,731 to Hauge, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes returning depressurized fluid through the center of the rotor to induce unnecessary flow resistance with lower efficiency resulting. The pressure vessel described has multiple external seals, which eventually will leak and require replacement causing operational interruption and costly service.